Drake Served As The Perfect Double-Duty Host On ‘SNL’

It became apparent why Drake, 29, shaved his beard last week, after a successful appearance on Saturday Night Live. The Canadian rapper served as the host and musical guest, performing his new songs “One Night” and “Hype” for the New York City audience.

In usual Drake form, he showed his amazing sense of humor joking about his Emo music, rumored relationship with Rihanna, and proud Canadian heritage. “If I’m being real, it hurts,” he said in his opening monologue about all the memes made from his image. “It seems like it keeps happening. I just want to scream that ‘I’m more than a meme.’”

Adding about Rihanna, “I swear we only friends, friends, friends,” in the same cadence of their song “Work.”

“Black Jeopardy” was a standout skit, where Drizzy played Jared, a dread-locked Caribbean-Canadian who kept giving answers unfamiliar to his Black competitors. “Wait, you’re a Black Canadian?” Kenan Thompson as the game show host, asked. “Obviously, dog! There’s thousands of us. I’m sure you’ve met a few of us before,” Drake as Jared responds in a thick accent. To which Kenan’s character says, “Nope. Never met one.”

A car rental skit was another standout performance where Drake played an unprofessional representative who didn’t have any cars for a couple on their honeymoon. Jay Pharoah played his lackadaisical manager.

Last night (May 14) marked Drake’s second time hosting and performing for the iconic sketch comedy show. Each time, it’s been made apparent that the rapper was a former actor who can hold his own alongside comedy’s finest. So much so, that Chris Rock was on hand to introduce his first musical performance of the night.

Drake is currently promoting his fourth studio album Views and will be on tour this summer.